Table systems of this kind are known in general, for example, from EP 1 235 115 A2 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,499,880 B2. The gas-guided or air-guided tables known from these references which are suitable for use in a vacuum environment usually comprise two axes which are oriented, for example, in x-direction and y-direction and can move under high-vacuum conditions. Gas bearing elements or air bearing elements are used, for example, on a fixed base plate, for virtually frictionless movement. Usually, slides are movable on guide rails, e.g., in the form of bars, along one axis, e.g., the x-axis, and a connection rail, e.g., in the form of a crossbar, is arranged between these slides in direction of the other axis along which another slide runs, this slide carrying a stage plate arrangement.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,140,242 discloses a table system with three rotatable drives in which a moving table is rotatably and swivelably connected to three drive rods, each drive rod being moved by a drive roller and pinch rollers connected to a motor.